


Right In Front Of You

by 16lena246



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Love Confessions, Made For Each Other, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tucy, chenford
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:16:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29882388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/16lena246/pseuds/16lena246
Summary: They've been working together for over a year and somehow everyone but them can see they're in love with each other. Nobody understands Tim Bradford like Lucy Chen so he turns to her for advice.Where Tamara points out what everyone else sees and Lucy realizes what she’s been missing all along.
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 20
Kudos: 72





	Right In Front Of You

The door to the bedroom softly closed as Tamara emerged from the room with the new pajamas Lucy had bought for her. She wasn’t a fan of the pink but she wasn’t about to be ungrateful after all that had been done for her. She walked over to the kitchen and sat right in front of Lucy who was eyeing her phone screen at what Tamara imagined was the recipe for tonight’s meal. 

She was lucky. At least that’s how she felt. She had someone who picked her up from school. Someone to drop off her homework when she forgot it. Someone who actually cared about her, for the first time in a long time. She never said the words but she knew that Lucy understood how thankful she was. 

“Are you sure Jackson won’t mind me sleeping in his room?” she asked pulling her laptop out of her backpack onto the counter.

“Yeah, he’s gonna be with Sterling for the whole weekend so you’re good.” Lucy looked over her shoulder from where she was at the sink to smile at Tamara. “Actually it’s nice to have a girl roommate for once. We should do this more often.”

“Is Jackson gone a lot?”

“No but sometimes we work different shifts and it’s just me here at night.”

“Well, maybe you should get a pet then. A dog maybe.” 

“I had - well have - a dog already.”

Tamara’s confusion showed over her whole face. “Am I blind because I have never seen a dog here before.” 

Lucy answered her question while still putting all the ingredients in the pan. “He’s with Tim.”

“Your T.O.? Why?”

“I got him after a really traumatic experience to help me cope but he turned out to be more than I could handle so Tim is taking care of him. Technically it’s his dog too since Kujo’s been with him for months now.”

“Do you ever get to see him?”

“No, but I force Tim to show me pictures and give me updates every now and again.” Lucy wiped her hand on the dish towel and grabbed her phone to show Tamara the pictures Tim sent her. He claimed he was a big softy yet half of the pictures were of the dog in his bed, sometimes under the covers.

“So you’re basically co-parents to a fur baby?”

Lucy thought about it for a minute and looked up at her smiling “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

They ate dinner and talked about their day while Tamara took care of the dishes - which wasn’t her idea but chores were expected since she was practically a permanent houseguest - before she slid down onto the comfy beanbag on the floor. 

Lucy was flipping through the channels finding a show to watch while holding onto her wine glass. Tamara rested her homework on the coffee table and put her phone on top of it, sitting up to face the couch.

“So, what’s going on between you and Tim?” Tamara asked shoving Lucy’s foot to get her attention.

“Bradford?”

“Do you know another Tim?”

“Fair point. And nothing's 'going on’. We’ve just gotten a lot closer since I’m a P2 now.”

“Close enough for you to be cooking for him?”

“I cook for you, don’t I? Plus he’s there to test out all my recipes.”

“Mmhmm, sure.” Tamara was drawing out the first word after picking it up from being around Lucy so much knowing it would earn her a glare from her position on the couch. She paused a moment before asking her next question.

“So if he started dating again, you’d be okay with it?”

“Why wouldn’t I? We’re just friends and I want Tim to be happy?”

“Okay here me out. You said Nolan’s training officer left him when you were only halfway through the program. Angela made detective and left Jackson. Tim is the only one who hasn’t left your side even though he could’ve -”

“Clearly I talk too much about my personal life with you,”

“ - plus even though he’s sergeant now, he’s always conveniently around, at least when I visit the station.”

“You’re thinking way too deep into this.”

“Am I?” Tamara said as she eyed the picture under the tv. The picture was taken off guard the night of Angela and Wesley’s wedding with Tim and Lucy dancing, her head on his chest, his hand resting on her lower back. Jackson had insisted that she frame it, calling it ‘the most adorable photo ever’.

Lucy caught herself staring at the photo considering if the conversation that night between her and Tim was his way at hinting at something more. She could feel Tamara watching her and smiling. “Don’t you have a project due soon that you should be working on?”

“Yeah, yeah whatever.” As Tamara started to take her laptop into the bedroom there was a knock on the door and she ran to look through the peephole. She didn’t say anything, just pulling the door open.

“Hey.” Tim addressed both of them but kept his eyes on Lucy and his hands tucked into his pockets.

“Oh, hey. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Can we talk for a minute?”

The silence between the three was close to being uncomfortable before Tamara started grinning.

“Um, I’ll be in my room.” She turned and winked at Lucy before closing the door behind her and pressing her ear to it to listen to the conversation.

\------------

Lucy rested her wine glass on the coffee table and walked over to the island where she was only a few feet away from Tim. She scanned his face for a reason for his sudden appearance but all she noticed was that he looked tired, haggard actually. It was a long week and she knew Tim filling in for Sergeant Grey as watch commander was starting to take a toll on him. She had barely seen him that week, only at roll call and at the food trucks during lunch but she didn’t have time to talk during either of those times. 

Now here he was standing in front of her; this man could play tough around anyone but if anybody could get to him, it was Lucy Chen. She knew his weak spots, she wanted to understand him, something that his ex-wife hadn’t done even when they were still married. She knew this man all too well.

“Am i interrupting something?” he asked, pushing his hands deeper into his pockets and turning to face her. 

“No. She had work to do anyway. Tim nodded as Lucy answered. “Tamara I can hear you listening, you know.” Lucy motioned to the door and picked up her keys, “Can we talk downstairs?”.

“Yeah.” He opened the door for her and Lucy noted that he was a lot more quiet than usual, not uttering a word until they were outside and alone.

“How are things with the puppy?” she finally heard him say, a hint of teasing in his voice.

“Great. I know you said not to bring your puppy home but I’m just trying to make sure there’s at least one person who cares about her.” There was a pause after she answered and she figured she would have to initiate the conversation.

“You’re too good of a person, you know that?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment so thank you.” she knew he would give her a lecture about taking Tamara in so she quickly changed the topic. “So you said you wanted to talk?”

“How was your week?”

She raised an eyebrow at him, “Tim Bradford did you come all the way over here to ask me about work?”

“Then I get accused of not being nice.” She knew he was only teasing from the smirk on his lips. 

“My week was..eventful. Yeah well, you know that much already.” She had seen him when he signed off on the incident reports and while it wasn’t for long, she enjoyed seeing him nevertheless. “Richards is alert.”

“You mean he talks a lot.”

They both laughed at Tim’s blatant statement. 

“Yes, but I don’t mind it. I mean, my last partner was sort of a pain in my ass and never talked to me.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, this guy made my days hell and refused to let me drive.”

“Hmm, maybe he was trying to teach you how to be a good cop.”

She realized she’d been staring at him the whole time and planted her eyes on the ground. “I miss him.”

“Wait. What was that Officer Chen? You miss me?!”

She covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud, “I am never telling you anything again.” Their eyes met each other then and smiled. “And I know you miss the action.”

“It’s been a tough transition. I went from being out on patrol every day to spending my days in the office. I thought I’d be used to it by now at least.” She hadn’t expected Tim to be so open about his experience as watch commander. Grey was still in recovery and had another six weeks before he was expected to return to work. 

“Hey,” she rested her hand on his arm bringing his attention back to her, “Make the best of this because soon you’ll be back on the streets with me.”

“They’re making Grey captain and they want me to take over permanently.” He watched the smile drop from her face as she struggled to remain positive. She knew that it meant they wouldn’t be working together again and wished her probationary training wasn’t over. “Boot, I never said I’d take it.”

She scanned his face for an explanation then. “You want my opinion? Why?”

“Because your opinion matters to me. I thought that’s what friends are for.” He knew that admitting they were friends would perk her up again. 

“You came here to get my opinion but I think you already made your decision and you want validation-”

“I never said validation.”

“When you already made the right choice. You wouldn’t ask me what I think unless you knew you were gonna accept it. For what it’s worth I think you’re going to do great. I mean come on, I should know, you trained me. Plus you’ve already had a month on the job.”

“A month is a lot different than ten years Lucy.”

“Tim, it’s like you told Rachel, dream jobs only come around once. It’s a rare opportunity and you need to take it while it’s still available. You taught me that.”

He had stopped listening to her a while ago but kept staring at her lips. Wondered what it would be like to kiss them. What they tasted like. It wasn’t the first time he had thought about it but Tim was a stickler for rules and he knew it was a point of no return. That it would change the way they saw each forever. He didn’t have a plan, just knew that he wanted the woman standing in front of him to be in his life, not just his job. He wanted to share things with her that he never told anyone. He wanted to open himself up to her. He didn’t know exactly when it started but there was only one person he wanted “You think I should take the risk?

“You won’t know unless you try and-”

He would let her finish that statement another time. He gently cupped her face in his hands and pressing his lips against hers, roughly at first and then more gently, he moved his hands to wrap her waist and pull her against his body. She slowly slid her hands around his neck, reciprocating the kiss.

They didn’t know how long they’d been standing there before they both drew back from each other, their foreheads still pressed together. Lucy closed her eyes trying to savour the unexpected, long-awaited moment. 

He leaned back to look into her eyes. “You told me I would regret not taking the chance. I’m taking a chance on you.”

She still held onto him not wanting to let go, “So that’s what you meant at the wedding.”

“Yeah but back then I meant as my rookie. I want to take a chance on you, Lucy. Forget the rules, some people matter more. ”

\------------

Lucy quietly closed the door, squeezing the handle careful not to make any noise as she entered the dark apartment. Tamara peeked out from her bedroom and Lucy could make out her smirk even in the dark. “Nothing going on between you two, huh?”

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting in years! I hope you guys enjoy this fic :))) thinking about writing more, let me know if you have any ideas - tumblr @: ironwingblog


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